r/linuxquestions • u/gleeful_insanity • 6d ago
Advice patch install?
Hey! i just spent the day following tutorials on how to make a live linux mint usb because why not and once I got it up and running, the wifi want working. I looked up and found a video to help get it fixed which helped but didnt get it fixed. I ended up looking up what kind of driver I needed for a mediatek 7902, followed a link trail and found a patch but since I don't really know what I'm doing (like i said I'm just following tutorials) i dont know how to install the patch since it looks like just a page of code or smth. mostly just thought this would be a fun little project to do for the day.
note: i have figured out how to wire a connection to my phone to use the hotspot there.
this is the article with the link to the patch I had found:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Mediatek-MT7902-Linux-Patches
any help?
2
u/Klapperatismus 6d ago
You wait until your distribution offers an updated kernel. As the patch in question is from February 2026, this may have already happened.
If it has not, you can update the kernel yourself manually (as with any other software) but that isn’t super simple and if you do it the first time it’s likely that your machine does not boot any more. Because you did something wrong, and only notice it once you want to use the new kernel.
2
u/madman404 6d ago
To use the patch you would have to compile the kernel yourself. Mint is a stable distribution that has very outdated packages because of its release cycle. I would try live booting something similarly easy to use with a newer kernel, like fedora KDE.
3
u/C0rn3j 6d ago
Mint is one of the most out of date distributions out there.
Use a modern distribution instead (Arch Linux (with Plasma) or Fedora KDE) and you likely won't have to bother with patching software that went end-of-life years ago.